There were a total of 101
Koi fish decorating the sky at Takadanobaba Park. We call these
Koi-nobori (鯉のぼり). May 5 is Children's Day here in Japan and it's tradition to fly these Koi-nobori to wish the children a long and healthy life.
Even in the tsunami-struck areas, people are celebrating Children's Day. In a shelter in Ofunato City (Iwate Prefecture), some university student volunteers collected 60 Koi-nobori to fly for the many children there to enjoy. In an
interview a little girl says, "Even though the tsunami took everything, I'm happy to have a fun day like this." I think the Koi-nobori has a deeper meaning for everyone this year more than ever.
I also wanted to introduce you to a blogger friend,
Kevin, who is taking on a big project to help the many children in the disaster struck areas in Japan through the NGO group, Save the Children. He is training for a 60km ultra-marathon in the Kansai area next month as a fundraiser. To a girl like me who huffs and puffs just walking up a hill, I have a lot of respect for someone who can run miles...or in this case, kilometers. So I'm hoping I can support Kevin in a small way by giving a shout out to his Running To Help Japan project, which you can read about
here. Or you can watch the Youtube video he made below!
We're closing in on 2 months since the initial March 11 earthquake and there are still many people living in shelters. In Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima Prefectures, there is said to be over 100 underage children who have lost both parents, and so many more who have lost either parent. I'm sure their daily lives have altered drastically, more than I can imagine. But I hope today that many of them were able to enjoy just being children and have a fun day outside, seeing the Koi-nobori fly.
Happy Children's Day!